cleansing rituals

Sacred hygiene practices

Cleansing rituals are ceremonial practices intended to purify a person, place, or object of spiritual contamination, negative energy, or sin.

These appear across religions and cultures: baptism, smudging with sage, ritual bathing, exorcism.

The term also applies to secular practices with quasi-spiritual overtones: She described her weekend digital detox as a cleansing ritual.

In wellness culture, cleansing rituals often blur the line between hygiene, spirituality, and self-care.

Categories

body customsgrooming, body modification, body art, tattooing, piercing
folk medicinefolk medicine, herbalism, herbal remedies, folk healer, herbal medicine
healing crystalsamethyst, rose quartz, citrine, crystal healing, healing stones
indigenous beliefsshamans, ancestor spirits, nature spirits, spirit world, sacred rituals
Roman hygieneaqueducts, public baths, bathhouses, sewers, latrines
African spiritualityancestral spirits, ancestor veneration, traditional healers, spirit world, orishas

Opposites

spiritual purity

cleansing ritualsdesecration

Violating something sacred

ritual function

cleansing ritualsnecromancy

Communicating with the deceased

spiritual purpose

cleansing ritualscurses

Sworn oaths or hexes

Family